touch felt…like strokes of flames over her skin, yet it also felt right. It might take her the rest of her life to figure out why she would ever think such a silly thing.
“I am going to scream,” she said huskily. “It will bring all the servants here.” A bluff, for everyone was below stairs in the servant quarters and would not likely hear her. Her mother always slept soundly after taking the tincture for her headache.
“Go ahead,” he said smoothly.
Gritting her teeth, she thought of a counterattack to his slick assurance. “A few weeks ago, you were overheard at a garden party vowing to not wed before forty.”
The scandal sheets had thought it so newsworthy, it had been mentioned by more than six different presses and for the entire week. It had left many maters disappointed, and also bolstered those determined to nab him to work their machinations harder.
One of those imperious brows arched. “Surely you will make a point soon.”
“If you are caught in my chamber, you will be forced to marry me.”
The provoking amusement around his mouth grew more pronounced. “I wonder how that end would be achieved.”
Maryann’s heart jolted. “Are you saying if you were to be discovered, you would refuse to marry me?”
“Of course. I am the one they call ‘the daring and the wicked.’”
That was said with some derision, as if he found the ton’s penchant for monikers tiresome and uninspired. For the first time since becoming aware of St. Ives, she wondered if more rested beneath the facade he presented to the ton.
Do you wear an armor like I do?
She delicately cleared her throat. “You’ve already heard the gossips naming me as the lady’s chamber you climbed from at Lady Peregrine’s house party.”
His head lowered another fraction; his breath wafted against her lips. “The gossip you initiated. Very clever of you.”
Oh God, we are standing so close. It was also exceedingly frightening that he hadn’t just ignored the gossip but instead had broken into her home. What kind of gentleman did such a thing? Silly, he is a libertine! “I can explain why I did what I did, my lord.”
“You wished to use my reputation to escape an engagement with Stamford.”
She froze. “Yes.”
He tipped an imaginary hat in her direction. “Well done. The earl might be offended enough to withdraw his offer.”
With some amazement, she noted the marquess was not angry. Perhaps his tone was even tinged with admiration. “I hope so,” Maryann said, watching the marquess carefully.
“Why do you wish to escape marriage to the earl? He is thought a decent sort.”
“Only another libertine would think that man decent.”
His lips twitched slightly before his expression smoothed. “Tell me.”
This demand was hard and a bit intimidating. She saw nothing of the flirting charmer she had observed a few times at society events. This man…he was an enigma. He did not seem furious she had thought to use his reputation so callously, and a silent breath of relief escaped her. Maryann hoped a bit of honesty would keep him this indifferent to the notion. “I was given away to him, without any considerations to the kind of gentleman I’d hope to marry.”
“Ah, so if you were consulted, you would have consented.”
“No.”
“Oh?”
“Perhaps if I had been courted,” she said softly.
“A few poems, long walks, a carriage ride or two from Stamford would have been enough to turn your head?” he asked caustically.
As if he expected more from her. The idea was outrageous and laughable.
“It would have at least revealed to the earl that we do not suit.”
“And how are you so certain of this unsuitability if you’ve not given him a chance?”
She held up three fingers, slowly lowering one after the other as she made her points. “Gentlemen of society do not like ordinary ladies, or ladies with opinions and a modicum of intelligence, and most certainly not ladies with simple but unbending expectations.”
“You are intelligent…even shrewd, and I shall discover your expectations, but you are no ordinary lady,” he said. “I am astonished you should believe it to be so.”
Warmth fluttered through her heart that he would think her shrewd. And he said it with such admiration, too. “Of course I do not consider myself ordinary, but I daresay gentlemen of the ton do.”
She flashed him a deliberate mocking glance from beneath her lashes. “I am a blazing star that no gentleman has any notion what to do with. My wit skewers, my laugh enthralls, and they are daunted by my mouth. Should I